Seating appliance



F. G. PARKER.

SEATING APPLIANCE.

APPLICATION FILED APR.21, 1921.

1 ,4:OO,974=. Patented Dec. 20, 1921 WITNESS c ATTORNEY UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SEATI NG APPLIANCE.

Application filed April 21, 1921.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRED G. PARKER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Paterson, in the county of Passaic and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Seating Appliances, of which the following is a specification.

The object of this invent-ion is to provide an improved cushioned seating appliance that shall be suitable for motor vehicles and especially those of the elastic-tire type used as public conveyances, where simplicity and inexpensiveness of construction and durability as well as comfort are desired qualities and where, air being employed as an element in the cushioning, it is also desirable to control the same with a view to the weight to be supported and to avoid as much as possible all noise incident to its flow under such control.

To these ends I have provided, in a seating appliance, upper and lower telescoped members together forming a pneumaticcushion space having restricted communication between their telescoped portion-s with the atmosphere, and a spring for'normally holding the upper member elevated, one member being made to inclose an air-retreat space having restricted, preferably adjust-' able, communication with the first space and the, wall separating the tWo spaces preferably afi'ording an abutment for one end of the spring. It is a desideratum, in point of economy in the manufacture of these structures, to standardize them, but to adapt them to the support of different weights there should be means for air-escape additional to the vent which is afforded between their telescopic portions; my construction provides for this additonal air-escape, and it does so in such a way that the means therefor and-also any whistling'or other noise are inconspicuous and an abutment for one end of the spring is also afforded.

In the drawing Figure 1 is a perspective view of a seating appliance embodying my invention;

Fig. 2' is vertical sectional view of one,

of the standards shown in Fig. 1; and

Fig.3 is a sectional view on the line 3-3 in Fig. 2.

The seating appliance shown in Fig. 1 embodies a seat-and-back forming structure a,

the base or bottom of which is indicated at bin Fig. 2 and shown as consisting of a board Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 20, 1921.

Serial No. 463,233.

or plate, and two standards under the end potrions of said structure; there may be one or any other number of such standards to a seat structure.

' To form each standard and produce the aforementioned pneumatic-cushion space there are provided the lower and upper standard parts 0 and cl, each of which may be a casting.

The part c is a cylinder having an integral annular base which projects outwardlly to form an exterior flange o and inwardly to form an interior flange 0 the latter flange having an upstanding annular rib c which constitutes an interior axial boss on part 0; excepting for the portions 0', c 0 part c is a plain cylinder.

Part (Z is likewise cylindrical and of sufficiently less diameter than part c to fit snugly within the same so that when it moves up and down therein there will be no appreciable lost motion. At its top it has an exterior annular flange d, and between its top and bottom ends it has an interior transverse integral diaphragm (Z formed with a more or less large opening d therein. Otherwise the part d is a plain cylinder.

e is a spiral spring which is housed in the part c and stands upright, fitting at its lower end over the boss 0 f is a disk, say of leather or other suitable sealing material which, when the elements of the standard are assembled, stands interposed between the diaphragm (Z and the upper end of the springe. The disk f has an aperture 7 therein and a valve f of the plate type adapted to move in its own plane, to more or less close the aperture f, on a pivot f in the disk. I

WVhen the elements are assembled as shown in Figs. 2 and 3 a pneumatic-cushion space It is formed below the wall constituted by diaphragm (Z and disk f; -.his space has communication with the atmosphere preferably only by Way of the annular vent i which is formed between the telescoped portions of the parts a 03, communication between said space and the atmosphere through the boss 0 being closed by contact of the base with the floor A or, if the latter should be uneven and so allow undue venting of the space, by a sealing plug j fitting into the boss.

Above the aforesaid wall there is further formed a chamber 70 which is closed at the top by the board or plate I) and has no other communication with the exterior except by the aperture f in said wall, which aperture facture, and to adapt any one such structure for the support of different weights or forvarying conditions of irregularity of roads to be traveled the auxiliary air escape means f f for chamber h is provided, the same venting according to my invention into an interior space, such as k, which affords a retreat for such air, so that any whistling or other noise incident to the escape of the air is mufl'led and rendered inconspicuous. In the actual construction shown the wall which separates the spaces It and la and which has the thus restricted aperture f also affords an abutment for the upper end of the spring (2.

To give a finish to the standard I provide a cylindrical apron Z which houses the part (Z and also the upper end portion of the part 0 being in the present case provided at its upper end with an exterior flange Z which is rigidly secured to the seat structure a by the same means m, such as screws, as secures the flange 03 of part d to said structure. This apron is of appreciably thinner material than the part c and is stiff (being formed preferably of sheet metal) so that outwardly the standard has the appearance of nearly uniform diameter from top to bottom. I find that no undue noise is generally incident to the flow of the air via the vent 2' however close the fit at this point, mainly because of the annular form of this vent; any that might result under certain conditions is muffled by the apron Z.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. The combination, in a seating appliance, of upper and lower members telescoped one into the other and together forming entirely below the upper member a pneumaticcushion space having restricted means to allow efliux therefrom and influx thereto of atmospheric air, and a spring for normally holding the upper member elevated, one member inclosing an air-retreat space having restricted communication with the firstnamed space.

2. The combination, in a seating appli-' scoped one into the other and together forming entirely below the upper member a pneumatic cushion space having restricted means to allow efilux therefrom and nflux thereto of atmospheric air, and a spring for normally holding the upper member elevated, one member inclosing an air-retreat space having restricted communication with the firstnamed space and the wall separating the two spaces affording an abutment for one end of said spring.

In testimony whereof I affix my si nature.

FRED G. PAR (ER. 

